The Hindu : International : Sri Lanka rejects call by U.N. human rights chief

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Monday, Dec 10, 2007
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International

Sri Lanka rejects call by U.N. human rights chief

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Colombo: In a letter to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, Sri Lankan Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe has rejected her call for a fullfledged OHCHR presence and reiterated the alternative proposal of the Government.

“I have reiterated the consolidated position of the government in relation to the establishment of an Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on several occasions commencing with my statement communications thereafter. May I restate that the Government of Sri Lanka does not perceive the necessity for a ‘fully-fledged presence of OHCHR in the country’ at present and we hope that our consistently expressed position will be respected.”

The letter contended that the government did not believe that OHCHER representative’s independence would be adversely affected through close cooperation and collaboration with national mechanisms. He said he was pleased that both share “common ground on the need for independent, credible and reliable reporting on human rights in Sri Lanka.

The Minister argued that Sri Lanka had voluntarily submitted itself to multiple monitoring and reporting mechanisms which among others include treaty bodies of al1 core human rights conventions, special procedures and mechanisms of the former commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, Secretary-General of the U.N., and visits by high-level U.N. officials involved in Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.

Meanwhile, the military on Sunday claimed that at least 18 LTTE cadres were killed along the northern Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the last 24 hours.

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